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fl h wfjm Orono Town Hall ni iiiiiüihiii BOWMANVILLE library 163 Cnurch Street , , Bowmanville, Ont. L1C 1T7 VUlUiuv --, GST Included Wednesday March 3, 2004 Serving asile , , Sta an* ! , : i. r ' p- : i-iipljillf" riHiiiiiiiiii ttinTTTTTiH! ; ?i!î| II 4*ii|**'* i:;ticks': ' ;iii iiiiiiiiii;: Hi jin'::: !;. .i' 1 :! Si» u ipM IpilÉplSipli v fl i„ I jilit i U,III iW,'i |fc.' iij i|| ü'.i-'ï ' • P liHiijiili | î il!|| lllllli •ttttitütüi-'itriti:::""-":-::;":""" 1 " ' ||g!jî| jj ill mit tiüHÜliiiiijil "li HP Slliiii ^ ^ ^ ^ : :: : V |3 jpllll P |ip II Hi! ■ u •iiltÎMi! lljl' i||| :: ,'nfl IIP i ' 1 :: O'Neill, Steven Boudreau, netminder Josh O'Neill and Alex Fairs of Newcastle adapt to the recent high temperatures have brought the hockey game off the pond and on to the road. V sc iMI iff I,T «ai,- 7*^ James O'Neill which have Clarington fireworks fizzle out prepared to block highway noise Highway 115/35 corridor residents are encouraged with the Ministry's proposal to erect sound barriers in their neighbourhood. The Ministry of Transportation is proposing to erect sound barriers along the 115/35 Highway at four selected sites in the residential areas of Orono. The plan has some Rowe Street Orono residents residents hoping they will finally be able to hold a conversation in their back yard. Leonard " Alldread and Sandra Lewis, both of Rowe Street, say over the years they have sent several letters to John O'Toole, their member of Provincial Parliament, complaining about the noise levels they have to endure from the highway in their back yard. "The Sunday night traffic is the worst," said Lewis in a phone interview with the Orono Weekly Times last week. "They should have done something when they [the ministry] widened the highway," she stated. When the Ministry made the highway highway into four lanes it just brought the noise that much NOISE continued page 3 Due to budgetary pressure Clarington's Backyard Festival Festival has been cancelled. The festival which began in 2000 as a millennium celebration, |ias become in the words of a staff report, "a victim of it's own success." The event which had been held at Mosport Park for the last three Victoria Days featured family and musical entertainment followed followed by a fireworks demonstration demonstration at dusk. With an approximate attendance attendance of 15,000 at last year's Festival, staff now feel they shouldn't run the event without without a $50,000 contingency allowance. There may he pressures pressures experienced in 2004 that had not been anticipated or experienced to date, states staff report COD 009-04. The estimated cost of the 2004 Backyard Festival was $24,955.00. While the cost of the fireworks alone was $25,000, corporate sponsorship sponsorship offset the entertainment and facilities costs. Council approved a staff recommendation at Monday's council meeting to discontinue discontinue the Backyard Festival recognizing recognizing the extreme budgetary budgetary pressure they lace this year and in future years. " I he Municipality is at a critical point in balancing the stabilization stabilization of core services against programs or events, which are at risk of requiring more budgetary support as they grow in popularity," states the staff report recommending recommending the Backyard Festival be discontinued. The decision to terminate the Backyard Festival is disappointing, disappointing, said Jennifer Cooke, Clarington's Director of Marketing and Tourism. "It was something that was done for the community--celebrating community--celebrating what we do tor each other," she said in a phone interview with the I imes on Tuesday morning. "With the municipality taking the lead, we along with our corporate sponsors and volunteers were celebrating what we had in our own backyard," she stated. Last week Council was considering the possibility of holding a scaled back festival, offering only fireworks, however however staff felt this would pose a traffic problem with thousands thousands of spectators arriving onsite at the same time. Staff concluded that the savings which would occur for the scaled down event may be absorbed in increased need for vehicle control. The staff report before council on Monday included an option of providing $15,000 of the funds budgeted for the Back Yard Festival to the three Business Improve- FIREWORKS continued page 3